REBEL DIAZ - TROY DAVIS LIVES FOREVER (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

TROY DAVIS LIVES FOREVER, by Rebel Diaz (http://twitter.com/#!/RebelDiaz) and produced by Agent of Change (http://twitter.com/#!/agent_of_change), is a letter to Troy Davis, who was murdered by lethal injection on 21 September 2011, in spite of a massive international campaign for clemency. Sampling Billie Holiday's classic song 'Strange Fruit', the song highlights the parallels between traditional racism - where black people could be lynched by paramilitary mobs like the KKK - and the modern systemic racism where black people can be legally lynched on the orders of appointed officials.


Forward against the racist system, by any means necessary.


LYRICS


[Intro]
Another lynching has gone down in the US
And it's 2011. Nothing has changed.


[Chorus]
What up Troy, I can't believe they actually did it man
To tell the truth they ain't never gone kill you man
You live forever in the hearts of those who fought for ya
You fought for us, you gave us strength like a true soldier


[Rodstarz verse]
I feel the pain, I feel the anger and I raise to show it
I hit the streets and spread the word so the world knows it
I'm sorry we didn't save you
Shoulda been braver
But at times I feel alone when I'm surrounded by these strangers
2009 we first spoke, after I met Martina
I got the shirt but since then I haven't really seen her
Been on the road with these raps just tryin a spread a message
But when I think about our talks they were such a blessing
You was in jail reading your poems on the phone
And all I did was just listen, back stage of the show
Then I heard the crazy news about a week ago
That the date had been set and they wanted you to go
11.08pm, September 21st
Never forget, my inner being still hurts
Obama stayed quiet, like he did for Oscar Grant
Clarence Thomas b**ch ass never gave you a chance
See, you was innocent, there was too much doubt
7 of 9 witnesses wanted their testimony out
They was scared, police threats, serious like cancer
But you know it wasn't true, years later they recanted
I wish I had the answer what to do next
Gotta do more than tweet, Facebook and send texts
We need freedom, organise like Zulu
Feel the pain of injustice even tho I never knew you


[Chorus]
What up Troy, I can't believe they actually did it man
To tell the truth they ain't never gone kill you man
You live forever in the hearts of those who fought for ya
You fought for us, you gave us strength like a true soldier


[G1 verse]
They still lynching from plantations to the prisons
Methods changed but it's the same system
White robes used to burn a crucifix
Now black robes sign a death sentence
Instead of Jim Crow and legal segregation
It's yuppie condos and cuts to education
And I ain't gotta say it Troy, you said it in your last letter
Thanking your supporters worldwide for they past efforts
More than half a million signed them petitions
The pope, the archbishop, stars and politicians
A who's who on Twitter weighing in like Mayweather
But what happens to my bro after the storm let up
New day
Pray you in a better place
Over here we coping, tryin a channel that rage
To abolish these legal lynchings, abolish they broken system
Abolish the need for prisons, in defence of the human spirit


[Chorus]
What up Troy, I can't believe they actually did it man
To tell the truth they ain't never gone kill you man
You live forever in the hearts of those who fought for ya
You fought for us, you gave us strength like a true soldier
http://youtu.be/2CALIrotAWM